Ireland must step up against strong Bangladesh
Bangladesh will be playing in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 for the first time since 2006. Habibul Bashar, their former captain, recently wrote in the International Cricket Council website that qualification for the big event – the mini World Cup, as it is referred to – has been a big step forward for the team.
Bangladesh’s rise as a One-Day International team has been one of the stories in world cricket in recent years. The ICC Champions Trophy is another wonderful opportunity for the team to prove just how much it has progressed. It completed a training camp in Sussex, and will try to finetune its preparations even more in the triangular series involving Ireland and New Zealand, which gets underway at Malahide Cricket Club in Dublin on Friday (May 12) with the fixture between the home side and Bangladesh.
As the Irish settled down in familiar environs after the short – and unsuccessful – trip to England, Bangladesh warmed up with a 199-run win over Ireland Wolves on Wednesday. Sabbir Rahman’s 86-ball century before he retired out and Tamim Iqbal’s 86 took Bangladesh to 394 for 7. Mustafizur Rahman, who played just one game for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League 2017 for ordinary returns before joining his national team, Mashrafe Mortaza, the captain, Rubel Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan, who also got just one chance with Kolkata Knight Riders, then picked up two wickets each to bowl the opposition out for 195 in 41.2 overs.
While Bangladesh has been on the rise, Ireland hasn’t had too good a time. After beating West Indies in its opening game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, it has been on a losing spree. It has lost bilateral encounters against Australia (twice), Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, Afghanistan and England. To put things in context, Ireland has only beaten United Arab Emirates and drawn one series against Afghanistan in this period.
Ireland’s recent 2-0 loss in England was down to poor batting at crucial times. In the first match in Bristol, it failed to read Adil Rashid’s leg-spin and were bowled out for 126 in 33 overs. England chased down the target in 20 overs for the loss of just three wickets. Then, at Lord’s, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Jonny Bairstow scored 70s, and chasing 329, Ireland was dismissed for 243 in 46.1 overs as only William Porterfield did well, scoring 82.
Porterfield has been vocal about the need to step up on the big stage to make sure that Ireland doesn’t waste its opportunities. And the tri-series offers it a chance to make another impact as the possibility of Ireland achieving Test status comes closer.
Ireland will take solace from the fact that it had drawn the bilateral series against Bangladesh when it visited Belfast last in 2010. On that occasion, Porterfield’s century had given Ireland a win in the first game before Shaiful Islam’s four-wicket haul and Tamim’s 74 took Bangladesh to a six-wicket win in the second.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Tamim has gone on to become the frontman of a strong Bangladesh batting unit. Similarly, Mortaza, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib have all become names to reckon with, forming the leadership core with Tamim. And in Mustafizur and Mehedi Hasan, they have two of the most exciting young bowlers going around. How Bangladesh does in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will go a long way in defining the team’s legacy, and a win against Ireland in the first game of the tri-series could be the first step in that direction.
Teams (from)
**Ireland:**William Porterfield (capt), Andy Balbirnie, Peter Chase, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Barry McCarthy, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson (wk), Craig Young.
**Bangladesh:**Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Subashis Roy, Sunzamul Islam, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.